


Clementime

by Anannua



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Fae!Yamato, Fairy Tale Style, Gift Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25157026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anannua/pseuds/Anannua
Summary: Kakashi needs an ingredient for his potion. He meets a fairy who might be able to help him, but what can he trade for something that isn't his to take? It has to be special.How about a kiss?
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou, Namikaze Minato & Team Minato, Namikaze Minato/Uchiha Obito
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61





	Clementime

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ASchwartz33](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASchwartz33/gifts).



> A gift for a very good friend and fellow writer. I hope you enjoy this little fairy tale story.

“What are the ingredients again?” Rin asked.

“Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley and Parsnips, I think.”

Kakashi scoffed.

“We’re brewing a Burn Salve, not cooking lunch, you _dunce_.”

Beside him, Obito bristled and went pink in embarrassment; Rin was giggling at him.

“If you’re so clever name the ingredients without looking!”

Kakashi wove a simple repeating charm on the stirring stick in his pot and closed his eyes.

“Fiddlefern, Gossomer Root, Thistle and Hen’s Teeth.”

The sound of shuffling parchment let him know that Rin was sorting through her notes to see if he was correct.

“That’s right!”

Obito groaned.

“You’re such a know-it-all, Bakashi!”

“You’re absolutely right,” Kakashi said, taking over stirring the pot manually as Obito spluttered, “I **do** know it all. Better catch up if you don’t want to fail, moron.”

“Hey! Take that back!”

“Kakashi, that wasn’t very nice!”

Kakashi tuned out the sound of his classmates as he worked. The Salve needed something else added soon and he didn’t want to lose focus. He waved a hand to summon some vials from his bag, seeking a particular ingredient. When none of the bottles turned out to be the right one, he glanced up from his bubbling pot to see Obito cheekily grinning, and holding one of his vials captive. It held the ingredient he needed, and Kakashi needed it now.

“Obito—give it here.”

“Not a chance! Apologize first!”

“Obito, that’s not nice, either,” Rin hissed, trying to take the vial from him with out success.

“Come on, stop joking around,” Kakashi said sharply, “Obito! Give it back!”

“Say you’re sorry first!”

“Obito! I need it!”

“Then just apologize! You’re not better than us and you’re rude! I hate that you always act like you’re superior! You’re not special just because you got into Minato-sensei’s special brewing class. You’re an Apprentice, just like us.”

A foul odor caught Kakashi’s attention. He glanced down and sniffed gently through the scarf covering his face, and knew at once that his Salve was ruined. He’d waited too long to add the last ingredient. Anger bubbled up inside of him and he turned on his older classmates.

“You’re such a child,” he snapped, dropping his stirring stick on the table. “It’s ruined.”

“Oh no,” Rin said sadly. “And we spent all day yesterday gathering those roots! Sensei will be really upset.”

“Do you think so?” Obito gulped, sounding worried. Rightfully so, Kakashi thought moodily as he put on his boots and found his foraging gloves. They’d spent the better part of the entire day trying to gather the rare root, only coming up with enough for a single batch. Kakashi hadn’t been counting on them to mess up the potion and Sensei had left him in charge. So it fell on him to fix the problem.

Rin and Obito gathered around his cauldron, grimacing.

“Do you think we can save it?”

“It looks kinda brown now… isn’t it supposed to be green? Or blue?”

“Green. And no, we can’t save it,” Kakashi said curtly. “We need to recreate it. Come on. If we hurry we can gather enough to get started again before Sensei gets back.”

The prospect of disappointing their kind teacher was enough to motivate the others. They also grabbed their foraging gear and followed Kakashi swiftly out of the brewing room. Rin stopped at the door to blow out the fires and candles as they left.

* * *

Together the three Apprentices went out into the forest searching for the precious root. Rin’s sharp eyes led them to the same patch of earth where they’d found it before, but it was barren now.

“We dug it all up yesterday,” Obito groaned.

“And some animals have taken the rest to eat,” Rin guessed with a nervous note in her voice. “It’s all gone. Kakashi? What should we do?”

They could go back and tell their teacher that squabbling had led them to ruin the Salve. But this was the very first assignment that Kakashi had been allowed to lead. He needed to get this right, to show Minato-sensei that he was just as capable as his older classmates. They had to finish this mission.

“Let’s split up. Gossomer Root favors earthy loam. We’re looking for this type of soil. See how the dirt is soft? Touch it. Find more like it, and we’re likely to find the root. I’ll go south. Obito, you and Rin look North and North-west. We’ll meet back up here in twenty minutes. Agreed?”

“Agreed!” Rin chimed, cheerful at the clear direction.

Obito agreed also, albeit a little less cheerfully, but dutifully headed off in the direction Kakashi had suggested.

As for Kakashi himself, he took off south, searching for soft soil.

His search south took Kakashi to parts of the forest he hadn’t explored yet. Minato-sensei always took them along marked paths, though he had shown Kakashi and the others how to make a path of their own. Kakashi used a cutting knife his teacher had given him to mark the trees, so he’d know how to return to his classmates.

The air became thick for a while. Kakashi noted the changes in plant and types of insect, but the soil was still dry and dusty. He marked his path and continued on.

A few more minutes turned up nothing. Kakashi was beginning to worry that he’d have no luck. It was discouraging but perhaps he’d be able to rely on the others’ success in finding the root, as he was apparently out of luck.

Just before he decided to return, he felt his foot sink into the ground a little.

Excited, Kakashi dropped down to examine the earth. Sure enough, it was loamy, soft and loose, exactly what he’d been looking for.

He stood to mark a tree and froze in place.

In front of a tree stood a girl his age with long brown hair. Her almond-shaped eyes were narrowed with anger. Both her arms were thrown wide, as though to make a wall of herself between Kakashi and the tree he’d meant to cut. As Kakashi stood his eyes dropped down, and he realized that he was staring at a boy, not a girl.

“Where are your clothes?”

“Why are you hurting them?”

Kakashi stared. The boy stared back, upset and unmoving.

“Hurting… I haven’t hurt anyone,” Kakashi murmured, slightly concerned. The boy seemed unusual to his eyes. Something about him made Kakashi nervous. He was very pretty for a boy, with long, long hair, and Kakashi could smell him from a distance and through the scarf over his face. He smelled of the forest, lavender and green leaves, of earthy loam and crackling bark.

“Don’t hurt my friends! You’re cutting them up!”

The only thing he’d been cutting was herbs, earlier, and the trees along his path.

Kakashi’s brain pieced together the puzzle quickly and he felt his jaw drop.

“You’re _Fae_.”

“That’s right. What are you doing in my woods? You don’t belong here.”

He felt his mind racing. Fae were dangerous folk. They were creatures of pure magic, known for tricking young children and even grown adults, sometimes with fatal results. Kakashi tried to recall Minato-sensei’s long lectures about the Forrest Folk and the vague rules that governed them. He had to bide for time while he planned so he spoke.

“That’s right. I’m a little lost. Can you help me? I’m looking for some root that grows in these parts.”

The Fae’s face became twisted with anger.

“First you cut up all my friends! Now you want to steal their bodies? You’re a _monster_!”

His beautiful features seemed even prettier now, though Kakashi was very aware of the danger he was in. An angry Fae was certainly a death sentence. He could only remember one lesson at the moment, and cried out quickly as the Fae raised a hand to call down some foreign magic on him.

“I’ll make you a deal!”

The malevolent air cleared at once.

It was _exactly_ the right thing to say.

Kakashi looked up to find the Fae’s face smooth again, his beautiful eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Well? Speak quickly, or I’ll lose interest!”

He listened well and spoke with haste. “I’ll trade you and it troubles you not to let go some roots that you’ve no use for. My bargain is this: I’ll give you something that no one else can give, that you can only get from me, in return. What say you?”

“Of course,” the Fae said at once, “Only, what can you give me that no one else can?”

Kakashi swallowed. Here was the risky part.

“A kiss.”

Minato-sensei was always saying that Fae loved deals and riddles and especially making pacts and trades, but even more than that, they were fascinated by love. It was speculated that Fae did not love, which is what separated them from being human. That and their penchant for mischief and mayhem.

It was rumored that younger Fae had no wings. He was betting on the forest spirit’s inexperience. Of course a kiss could come from anyone, but Kakashi would wager a silver coin that this Fae didn’t know that, and hadn’t been kissed once yet.

Kakashi could see his gamble had paid off. The Fae’s expression was one of curiosity.

“What’s a kiss?”

“Let me have those roots, and I’ll show you,” Kakashi bargained.

The Fae waved his hand and from the soil came curling up the exact roots he needed, and more than enough to make three times the amount of Salve sensei had asked for.

“I have no basket,” Kakashi mumbled, taking off his cloak. “I’ll have to take it back in this.”

“That’s no good,” the Fae argued. He waved his hands again and from his palms wood erupted, winding and twisting into a beautiful shape. In no time the shape became a basket. Kakashi took it, amazed, and felt its weight, and admired its depth. It could easily hold all the roots.

“Thank you.”

The Fae finally smiled, and Kakashi found himself under some spell. He’d offered the kiss out of brief terror but now it seemed no hardship at all; he _wanted_ to kiss the other boy. Before he even gathered up the roots he’d come for, Kakashi found himself walking closer, cautious still of startling the Fae creature with lovely long brown hair.

It was a little odd to kiss a boy he didn’t know with no clothes on, so Kakashi offered up his cloak he’d been meaning to use to gather the roots.

“Please put this on, first,” he murmured, trying not to stare.

The Fae stared for a while, as though uncertain of what to do with the length of fabric. Eventually he applied it correctly around his shoulders and was decent. Then Kakashi stepped forward and took his face and brought it close.

His dark eyes were enchanting up close. Kakashi closed his own eyes quickly to avoid falling under any spells and brought their lips together.

He meant to count the seconds but the kiss stole all rational thought from his brain. He’d stolen kisses before from other children his age, curious about what all the fuss was about, but they were nothing compared to this. The Fae seemed to melt into him. His lips were soft and smooth, not chapped and scabbed and dry like Genma from his village. Even Shizune’s mouth felt like wrinkled parchment in his memory in comparison.

Kakashi had never felt anything like it. It seemed more than magical to him.

The other boy’s smell surrounded him. Kakashi felt it flood his senses, filling him up and clouding his mind with visions of green leaves and strong tree trunks, shadows cast by generous canopies, the rustling of wind as it passed through the forest. He felt a soft sound leave him as they kissed, mouthes pressed together in a connection that seemed to join their souls.

The sound of his name echoed in the distance.

Kakashi snapped back to his senses, realizing he’d lost track of time kissing the other boy, and pulled away quickly.

The Fae was staring at him with large, wide open eyes. His face was flushed and his lips were pink, and he looked a vision of beauty. All his thoughts flew away at once. Kakashi could not stop himself from coming forward again to kiss his mouth. And again. And again. And again, and again, until the Fae made a soft sound of his own against Kakashi’s seeking lips. It was music to Kakashi’s ears.

His name rang out again, this time closer. Kakashi stopped, though he felt loathe to, and tilted his head to one side.

“My name is Kakashi.”

“Tenzo,” the Fae mumbled dazedly, blinking and drawing Kakashi’s cloak around himself. “That is my name. This is my forest. Kakashi, will I see you again?”

“Of course,” Kakashi heard himself saying, realizing the words were true, and tasted like every lovely thing he’d ever eaten as he said them. “I’ll come again. Wait for me?”

“Kakashi? Kakashi! Where are you?”

The sound of his teacher’s voice made him jump.

Kakashi turned in time to see Obito and Rin come hurrying out of the forest with worried looks. Their faces were dirty and their breathing was hard, as though they’d run, and Kakashi realized with a start that all the sunlight had gone from the sky. It was night. But he’d kissed Tenzo in daylight. What magic was this?

He turned from his classmates and realized that he was alone. The Fae was vanished from sight as though he’d never been there at all.

Staring, Kakashi tried to make sense of what had happened. He didn’t have long: his teammates and teacher crowded him with varying degrees of relief. Rin threw her arms around him at once. Minato patted his shoulder with a deep sigh. Obito laughed a little raggedly, saying, “See? I _told you_ I knew which direction he’d said! South! I _was_ paying attention, so there!”

“Kakashi, you worried us,” Minato scolded, standing to his full height. “You know better than to wander in the Faerie’s Forest alone. Why did you wander off on your own?”

“ _Faerie’s Forest,_ ” Kakashi squeaked. He had wandered off the path a bit but he hadn’t meant to go so far! “I didn’t see the markers at the border. I was looking for more Gossomer Root.”

“They must have been moved again,” Minato sighed. “We’ve tried putting down permanent markers but the Fae love to shift them to give humans the slip. Kakashi, it was really dangerous to split your group up so close to their woods! What if we hadn’t come in time? You might have fallen to some trick!”

It hurt Kakashi’s heart to see his teacher so concerned. The older man was like a father to him and he hated to make Minato worry. Hanging his head, Kakashi accepted his scolding, wringing his hands together over the handle of the basket.

“I’m sorry, sensei. I won’t forget again.”

“What’s that you’ve got there?”

Kakashi held up the basket for his teacher to see. Minato’s blue eyes went very wide.

“Heavens! Kakashi, where did you find so _much_?”

“Is it a ton?” Obito asked, curious.

Rin nodded, staring at the basket and its contents.

“Wow. I didn’t realize how deep it was. We only need a quarter root for a single Burn Salve. Sensei, isn’t it rare?”

“And _expensive_ ,” Minato murmured, calculating. “Kakashi, what we don’t use for our potion you can keep. Or, we can sell it, and fetch a very handsome price! I’ll be able to afford new brewing pots. With this much, I might even be able to finally get some unicorn hairs!”

Rin and Obito and even Kakashi gasped. Unicorn hairs were expensive enough to be legendary even among children. To think that they might be able to afford some made them very excited.

“That’s crazy! How did you get so much of this dumb root anyway?”

“Huh? I traded for it,” Kakashi said, distracted by thoughts of what they could brew with nicer cauldrons and unicorn hair.

He realized as silence fell around him that the delight from before had faded into dread.

“Kakashi,” Minato asked fearfully, “How did you get this root?”

His teacher was staring straight at him. Kakashi couldn’t lie to his face. With an anxious twist his guts, he spoke honestly.

“I met a Fae here. He was upset that I’d marked some trees to find my way. I remembered your lesson about making deals, and made a trade.”

“ _What_ did you trade?” Minato asked urgently. He seemed very worried indeed.

Kakashi thought up a half-truth to soothe his teacher’s frayed nerves: his coat was still gone. “Don’t fret. I traded away my father’s old cloak. The Fae seemed to like it and was glad to take it. Do you know they don’t wear clothes?”

Obito laughed. Rin shoved him, eager to hear more of the story.

“So he took your cloak? No wonder! I’d begun to worry you’d lost it in the forest. What happened next?”

“Then he gave me the root in that basket. And then I heard you calling my name, and now you’re here.”

The weight of his teacher’s eyes fell heavily on Kakashi. He looked away, focusing on the basket of root instead, so Minato wouldn’t see his guilty expression.

“That’s quite the tale. And that’s all that happened, Kakashi?”

He closed his mouth so the truth wouldn’t cross his lips. Instead he nodded once, praying that his teacher wouldn’t press him further.

Minato seemed satisfied and eventually looked away.

“Well then. Let’s away. It isn’t wise to linger here past dusk. Everyone hold hands.”

Rin and Obito linked up. Obito took their teacher’s hand while Rin extended one to Kakashi. He took it with the hand that wasn’t holding the basket, and they walked back along the path Kakashi had marked with his knife.

He couldn’t help turning his head to look back once, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Fae as they left the forest. It was folly, of course, and Kakashi tried not to let sadness consume him as they walked away.

* * *

There was quite an uproar once they returned to the village. Several other potion makers and brewmasters came out to stare enviously at the basket, brimming with the rare root. One in particular eyed it greedily, a man with short black hair and a scar on his chin, named Danzo. He watched Minato closely with narrowed eyes. How unfair it was that a younger brewmaster should be blessed with the bounty of the forest! He didn’t deserve it. And he certainly couldn’t make the best use of it. Only qualified brewmasters such as himself and a select few others should have access to such a valuable crop. Obviously he had to find out how it was acquired and get some for himself.

Once the village finished swarming Minato’s team, especially Kakashi, who it was rumored to gather it all on his own, Danzo approached.

Kakashi stood up very straight when the village’s most renowned brewmaster came to him.

“You had some very good luck today, didn’t you?”

“I did, sir.”

“Tell me truly, did you come by all this on your own? Or did you have help?”

The weight of lying was heavy on Kakashi’s shoulders. He felt worse and worse about it the longer he kept up the secret. But he had to pay attention to his elder. “I had help, sir. A… young boy helped me.”

“What was his name?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Nevermind that. Tell me where you found it. There must be more.”

Kakashi shook his head, not wanting to lie more. Being dishonest left a sour taste on his tongue.

“There is no more, sir. I cleared out all that I could find.”

Danzo frowned.

“It is a growing root! Surely more grows where you found it. Listen well. I’ll pay you a gold coin to take me to where you found them last. It’ll be an easy task for such a handsome reward.”

Kakashi’s jaw fell open, for a whole gold piece certainly was a lovely reward, but something stopped him. A feeling even worse than lying curled in his gut at the thought of this man meeting Tenzo. What if he offered the Fae a kiss, the way Kakashi had? It sent awful shivers snaking down him, curling in his stomach like old milk. Somehow he couldn’t stand the thought.

“Boy? Let’s hear your answer,” Danzo grunted.

“I won’t say,” Kakashi said, shaking his head and firming his lips. “Not even for a gold piece.”

The old man shrugged, knowing that there was more than one way to get what he wanted.

* * *

He waited until the next morning. At dawn’s first light he entered the woods alone. There he found old traces of footprints, big and small, and followed them until he found a trail of scratched trees. From there he walked until the trail ended.

Surrounded by unfamiliar forest Danzo drew a pipe and lit it to think. He didn’t have to think long.

“Put that out,” said a child’s voice. “It doesn’t belong here.”

Danzo looked over. A little girl with long brown hair wearing a peculiar yet familiar dress was frowning at him.

He frowned right back at her.

“You shouldn’t be in the Faerie’s Forest alone,” he scolded. “Where are your parents?”

“Go back,” the girl said instead of answering. Danzo sighed. Another unwieldy child that needed better discipline. He would take her back to the village and find her parents.

“Come.”

He snatched her wrist.

All at once the forest groaned its displeasure. Danzo realized too late that the girl was no child at all, but Fae. He threw down his pipe and fled at once but it was too late. The twigs and branches of the forest twisted, growing at an incredible rate, quick enough to snag his feet and trip him to the ground.

A horrible wailing was the last sound he ever made as root and vine yolked his neck and legs and chest, and dragged the scarred man beneath the forrest floor.

The sleeping embers from his pipe were left ignored too long. When the Fae turned to see, already a wildfire had sprung to life. Horrified, Tenzo did his best to cry out for help, but none came. All the creatures of the forest fled before the fire’s hunger.

The wild flames jumped and danced, devouring everything they touched. Their beautiful tongues scorched the earth and burnt up the growing green grass. Even the lovely loamy earth turned dusty and charcoal-black as the fire roared, becoming a blaze.

Tenzo felt rooted to the ground as the flames leaped higher.

He stared, almond-shaped eyes wide with terror as all around him everything beautiful became blackened and choked with smoke. His home was going all to ash.

Too late, he realized that he was surrounded on all sides. Everything burned. The grass withered up and died beneath his toes. The tree trunks, the leaves, the vines and the flowers, too, all cried out silently as they twisted, consumed by the fiery flames, which were growing closer every second.

It was too hot! Tenzo gripped the brown cloak to himself, it helped keep out some of the heat, but all around the fire was closing in. There was no where for him to run. He opened his mouth to call for help but the air was thick with smoke and choked him. Coughing, he felt his eyes prickle with tears, and his lip trembled. Tears came to his eyes as he watched the forest he loved go to smoke and ash all around him.

Far away came a sound. Tenzo heard it again, and again, and again a final time before he felt something on his shoulder, a drop. Then another, and another, until the drops became too many to count, and an unnaturally swift squall descended. He shrieked, drawing Kakashi’s cloak around him for protection. The water was heavy, as if it had been dragged down from the skies. Tenzo huddled under the cloak, scared, and wished for safety. From the grounds came thick vines wreathed with thorns, these sprung up and grew in a dense hemlock all around, thick enough to block out the rain.

The little forest spirit sat up, dazed and horrified. It felt like a _nightmare_. But from what he could see through the cracks in his shelter it was not. The forest had been scorched by the blaze. It was aching. He felt his heart speared to hear it crying. Tenzo curled up under the brown cloak and sobbed.

“That’s enough!” A stern voice called. “Rin! Obito! Kakashi!”

Tenzo’s eyes snapped open. _Kakashi_?

“Yes, sir!”

“Right!”

More voices called out, and suddenly the heavy rain disappeared.

Tenzo jumped up in amazement. He hadn’t known that humans could weave spells! He peeked out in the cracks of the vines.

Sure enough, the familiar shock of silver hair was headed straight for him.

* * *

Minato surveyed the damage to the Faerie’s forest with a heavy sigh. The Fae would be greatly displeased by this. He hoped that they would be able to pay the cost to ease their ire. “Come on. Let’s see if we can salvage some of these fiddlehead ferns…”

Kakashi didn’t hang around to hear the remaining explanation. He felt pulled toward a tiny thicket left untouched by the fire. He was cautious at first but became more confident as he approached. The smell pulled him forward until he was right at the nest of thorns.

“I’m here,” he whispered softly.

The vines shifted and revealed the Fae. Tenzo’s eyes were wet with tears and his face was covered in soot. His entire body seemed to tremble. The Fae looked terrified and he felt his heart lanced at the sight.

He reached out at once and took Tenzo into his arms.

“Kakashi! Careful! _That’s a fairy_!”

“Woah! Rin, wait up!”

The sound of quick footsteps was the only warning before they were no longer alone. Kakashi started to release the Fae but Tenzo clung to him, burying his face in the meat of his neck. The vines by his feet writhed angrily, stopping the other’s approach. Rin shrieked and Obito shouted. Minato made a quieter noise of distress, stopping his students before they could become ensnared in the sudden shifting foliage. He called out.

“Kakashi! Don’t worry! You’re going to be alright.”

The silver-haired boy smiled. His teacher always seemed to know just what to say to soothe him, but this time, it missed its mark a little.

“Of course I’m going to be alright. I was never in any danger.”

Minato looked startled. Wasn’t Kakashi scared? A Fae folk clung to his front, nearly choking him, and all around the forest floor was alive and rustling.

But the more he looked, the more correct Kakashi seemed. There was no danger he could see; the Fae seemed to tremble like a leaf and the thorny vines surrounded Kakashi and the Fae both in a protective wreath.

A sense of foreboding struck the brewmaster.

“You’re not coming home with us, are you?”

Obito and Rin looked up in confusion.

“Minato-sensei? What are you saying?”

“Sensei? What’re you talking about?”

Kakashi tilted his head to one side, considering his teammates. Rin he’d known for a couple of months now, and Obito. He was fairly fond of them both, as far as villagers went, but his teacher he’d known all his life since the death of his father. It did feel a bit sudden to leave him like this. However Kakashi couldn’t shake the feeling that this was destiny. He was exactly where he belonged.

“You’re right,” he heard himself say, arms wrapping around Tenzo gently. “Not this time.”

Tenzo stared at Kakashi with wide, wide eyes. His features seemed to glow as Kakashi faced him.

“I’ve found a different place to call home.”

“Home,” Tenzo whispered, face still damp with tears. “Home’s gone. Hurt. Burning still, in some places. I can feel it.”

“We’ll fix it,” Kakashi whispered back, pulling down his scarf so Tenzo could see his lips smile as he said it. “Together. Isn’t that right?”

A moment was all it took for Tenzo to get it.

Then joy overtook his features. He seemed to shine like the sun and all around him the forest changed. The scorched earth beneath their feet shifted, rolling over with a slow groan as green grass erupted everywhere. Flowers, plants, vines and sprouting trees split the soil and twisted skyward, seeking the sun’s bright rays.

Rin’s voice cried out his name but Kakashi paid it no mind. He was too busy staring into the Fae’s delighted face.

“You’re staying here with me?”

“I am.”

“Until the forest is well?”

“As long as you’ll have me,” Kakashi amended, leaning in to press their foreheads together tenderly. “I can’t explain it but I know that right here is where I’m meant to be.”

The Fae’s laughter rang musically in his ears.

Minato watched as Rin rose her hands, a snatching spell to rescue her friend, and intervened. The young woman looked startled.

“Minato-sensei! If we don’t hurry, that Fae folk will spirit away with Kakashi! We’ll never see him again!”

“Sensei,” Obito murmured, worry in his voice though he looked torn. “What’s going to happen?”

The blonde shook his head, watching as one of his precious students stared deeply, directly into the eyes of a child of the forest.

“What was meant to happen all along.”

They watched with amazement as the two boys disappeared to the shapes of twisting new trees and plant life springing up from the ground. It became so swift that they had to retreat out of the forest to avoid being swept up in all the commotion.

* * *

The walk back to their village was a subdued one.

“Minato-sensei. Why did you stop me?” Rin asked tearfully. “Kakashi’s been taken by a Fae. We’ll never see him again!”

Obito said nothing, though his own face was wet, and his eyes watched their teacher for an answer.

Minato took a handkerchief and dried their faces one by one before he spoke.

“You know I am a brewmaster. That is not the only craft I have taken. I am also a Warlock. With these eyes, sometimes, I can see the strings of Fate, and Kakashi’s string was tied to that boy. If you had stolen him away, he might have died of a broken heart, and you know well the fate of those that steal from the Fae.”

Rin shuddered. Obito looked unusually thoughtful.

“Wait a moment. The strings of Fate? You mean, that boy was Kakashi’s Heart Mate?”

Their teacher smiled gently.

“It would seem so. I swore an Oath when I learned this craft never to tell someone directly who their string was meant for. However, I think it is safe now for me to say that Kakashi has found the place that he belongs.”

All of Rin’s worry and heartbreak were replaced in a breath. Instead she looked absolutely smitten, pleased and delighted that her friend had found his true love.

Obito looked awkward.

“Sensei? Can the strings be wrong?”

Surprised, Minato considered his black-haired Apprentice.

“I’m sorry, Obito. Do you care for Kakashi so strongly? The way you two fought, I thought for sure… but, no. The strings of Fate link those that were truly meant to be together.”

Obito’s gaze went around briefly, and to Minato’s astonishment, the young man reached over and promptly took his hand.

Rin beside them stared, baffled as Minato himself.

“It’s my eyes,” he admitted eventually. “I thought it _was_ Kakashi, for the longest time, and I was so pissed that he never even gave me a chance. But I get it now. He was always _with you_. I was following the wrong string, all this time.”

“Me?” Minato blustered, amazed. “But I don’t have a string!”

Obito’s smile was soft and warm.

“I promise you do, sensei. I’ll help you see it, in time.”

“Oh ho! Shall I call _you_ sensei instead?”

Rin laughed at the way her friend’s face went red so fast.

* * *

In no time at all the Forest became green again. Some whispered of a beautiful Fae girl with long brown hair and unblinking eyes. Others muttered of a silver-haired shadow flickering here and there in the space between the trees, though no one could say for sure. Danzo’s disappearance remained a mystery. Folk speculated he had moved away, moved by greed to seek business in the larger villages. Others muttered about seeing him walk off into the Fae Forest, never to return.

As the leaves began to turn Minato paid a visit to the forest. It was on his journey that he heard a rustling in the air, the sound of familiar laughter, and a soft voice scolding.

“Didn’t you warn us never to wander into a Fae Forest alone?”

“I know that voice,” Minato said, his brief spike of fear dissolving at once. “Come where I can see you!”

His youngest student came and Minato felt his smile beam. Kakashi was taller now. His pale features seemed even paler than before, a soft moonlit glow on his cheeks as he walked out of the forest wearing only his pants. Leaves and vines wreathed his shoulders and upon his spiky silver hair sat a crown of delicate flowers. Some of them seemed to shimmer and move, a trick of the light, or magic.

“You look lovely!”

“Ah! Careful who hears you say such things,” Kakashi scolds though he smiles at the praise. “Obito will grow jealous.”

His teacher seemed shocked.

“Have you learned to read minds?”

“There is strong magic here,” Kakashi said happily. “But no, I did not. I didn’t have to—you smell like him.”

Minato’s face went a very bright red.

Kakashi’s laughter echoed in the morning air.

“Oh! I’ve never seen you so embarrassed! Have you been naughty, sensei?”

“I have not!” Minato cried, blushing furiously, “Kakashi! You were always cheeky. I left my cloak in his care. That’s why you smell him.”

“And how did he come to have your cloak, I wonder?”

“Being in this forest has loosened your tongue.”

Kakashi, feeling mischievous, stuck his tongue out for good measure.

The sight of it warmed Minato’s heart. He had worried for the better part of a year how his youngest student was faring. Now it seemed his worry was wasted. Kakashi looked free of grief. His color was good and his spirits were high. He was obviously happy.

“Kakashi. It’s good to see you looking so well.”

His former student seemed to beam.

“I _feel_ good. The air here is fresh and clean. It’s home.”

“I see.” Minato watches Kakashi move in the light. He knows exactly where to shift to hide it but Minato knows his student. He hasn’t touched the ground one time since he’s stepped out of the trees. “Shall we make a deal?”

“That’s dangerous now.”

“What about a truth for a truth? Does that sound like a fair trade, little Fae?”

Kakashi almost answered before startling.

“What makes you say such things? I was human last we met!”

“You must be Fae now. How else are you floating? You’re an excellent trickster but you can’t fool these eyes.”

He smiled to see Kakashi stutter. He was caught off-guard.

“How did it happen?”

“Over time,” Kakashi said, no longer trying to hide how his feet hovered just above the grass. “Regrowing the forest must have pleased the spirits. They sensed my intentions were good, I guess, and Tenzo took me to see the Fae Folk. There they offered me a drink to make me pure. I’m all magic now, just like them.”

“Tenzo?”

Minato smiled to see Kakashi’s cheeks glow.

“I answered your question! You answer mine: what spell may make something doubled? I’ve bragged that I can copy anything with a touch but Tenzo doesn’t believe me. I’ve forgotten the incantation.”

“Is that what you want? Say you’ll use it for good. No tricks!”

Kakashi grumbled but gave his promise, eager for the spell. Minato smiled and taught him. It took the better part of the afternoon but eventually he got his new magic and the old spell to reconcile. He showed off a clementine grown from a seed in his hair, then made another with the magic spell. Delight filled his face.

“Thank you, Sensei. Now I can show Tenzo.”

“I hope you’ll show me Tenzo some day,” Minato prompted gently. “I’d like to meet the boy that makes you smile so bright.”

Kakashi didn’t bluster in embarrassment but glowed with pride.

“Sure! Let’s meet again—you can bring Rin and Obito.”

+

They agreed to meet and so it went for the rest of their years.


End file.
